Realisations
by kit-scagliotti
Summary: Mikasa should have paid closer attention, she didn't ever notice the change. But now it is so noticeable that she can't help but be entranced. Where ever he touches burns and it leaves her heart pounding and her insides squirming. JeanxMikasa and other pairings
1. Chapter 1

**I got a review from Hingabana.4 asking to try and extend this into a story. So I have the second chapter written, I just want to go through it tomorrow when I hopefully have this flu beat.**

**See you guys tomorrow**

**~Kit**

When Mikasa awoke, she was next to a dying fire on an impossibly cold floor and all alone. Apart from the soft crackle from the fire there was nothing she could hear in the immediate distance.

She sat up and looked around her, the small fire illuminated the stone wall that was behind her as well as her 3D Manoeuvring Gear. Similar walls on the left and right indicated she was in the dead end of a corridor, but ahead of her stretched a dark gloom.

Mikasa strained her ears trying to ascertain any movement within the corridor. It's almost imperceptible at first, but then she hears it: The sound of rhythmic footfalls and they were coming closer.

They were hiding under the ruins of an old fort, in the tunnels that had been a rather fortunate discovery. But they were unsure if there were any breaches so Commander Irvin posted them in twos down the stretch they were occupying.

Silently she gets up and moves to her gear, quietly slipping it on. The footsteps are closer now, but they are softer than she expects for a titan. _It has to be a deviant class. _She slides two blades in, locks them into place and draws them.

Peering into the darkness, she can just make out figure shuffling towards her and she still feels that stab of primal fear. _You have to fight_. She tells herself. _You have to save Eren._

She is about to storm towards the titan when she hears what sounds like a log hitting the ground, followed by a very audible "Shit!"

Mikasa stops. Titans cannot speak and definitely cannot curse.

It is with no amount of shock to see Jean emerge from the darkness. In his arms is a precarious stack of wood and she can see the furrow of his brow as he concentrates on balancing the logs. When he looks up and sees her, he blanches at her defensive stance and a log flies off of the pile and rolls to her feet.

"Y-You okay?" He asks. "I saw the fire was dying, so I went to get more wood."

He hefts the wood up as if to show her, a faint blush on his cheeks. She murmurs her thanks and turns around to go back to the fire. As she sits he deposits the wood down and begins to build up the fire again. It's not even ten minutes until the fire is roaring once again and he sits down next to her.

Mikasa wraps her scarf tighter around her throat and stares into the flames. The battle in the forest had been over before most people could comprehend what had happened, they had all scattered. Hannes, Armin, Jean and herself had given chase and the others had emerged sometime after them. They all could see Eren, bound and gagged with the tendrils of steam emerging from his stumps, but he was unconscious. They gave chase throughout the night. Reiner's titan form had just been able to stay ahead of them and just when he was beginning to tire, the sun started to rise.

Eren and the others had fled until they reached the next patch of forest. They would have given chase but the signal flare came for them to regroup. Commander Irvin made the instruction to hide in the ruins of the abandoned fort nearby. It had taken all of Mikasa's remaining strength to not disobey those orders and go chasing after Eren.

Armin had tried to get her to calm down, but he also tired and on edge and it was Jean who quietly told her his opinion. "We need to regroup. Reiner is probably exhausted from the chase but we have Ymir, who is incredibly fast and Bertholdt, who is incredibly huge, to worry about. You also saw that Eren has not yet regenerated all of his body parts and for whatever reason is still unconscious. We need to give him time to heal as well as rest ourselves." Out of the corner of her eye Armin nods and Conny is gaping at Jean as if he had spoken in a completely foreign language. "Also we have to now rescue Christa as well."

Commander Irvin had paired them off so that the perimeter was fully watched. Mikasa wasn't even aware that she was so fatigued until after she and Jean had set up their fire and she had sat down.

When she looks up out of the flames, Jean is also looking pensive.

"Jean, how far away is Eren?"

He looks at her. "Commander Irvin reckons that the forest is only about a half an hour in front of us. As soon as it's near twilight we will be making our attack."

She nods mutely and continues staring into the flames. Suddenly Jean moves in closer and places his hand on her shoulder and she looks at him in confusion.

"Mikasa, I swear to you we will save Eren."

For a split second Mikasa forgets how to breathe, it's not his words that get to her, but the look of determination within them. Eren has passion in his eyes, but Jean has determination in his. She knows that the passion was always in Eren's eyes but she can't remember when the determination started burning in his.

It is a full five seconds that she stares into his eyes before realising she has zoned out and she quickly breaks eye contact. Jean quickly leans back and when she looks at him again his cheeks are glowing a fiery red. She wonders if she has embarrassed him, probably judging by his cheeks and how long she stared.

"Thank you Jean." She says to him and she sees him nod his head once while staring pointedly at the wall.

They fall into an a strangely uncomfortable silence, punctured every so often by Jean either clearing his throat or opening his mouth only to snap it shut and curse lightly under his breath.

They are saved from the silence by the sound of someone else approaching.

A few seconds later Armin emerges from the darkness and comes to a stop in front of them.

"Commander Irvin says we are heading out in the next 5 hours. He says that we should try and sleep in two hour shifts, if any of you can."

Mikasa sees Jean nod.

"Thanks Armin." She says, there are dark circles under his eyes and she can tell that he is as internally stressed as she is.

Armin looks to Jean and despite his stress, manages to give him a grin. "Having fun Jean?" The colour drains out of Jean's face so quickly. His eyes dart to her and widen with fear as he locks eyes with her. She can see him relax as he notices the confusion that must be scrawled all over her face.

He turns to Armin, who still has a grin on his face and gives him a grin back. "Look I'd start being a little more quiet if I were you. Or am I allowed to speak freely about what exactly I saw?"

Armin blushes. "So you saw?" It is more of a statement than a question.

Mikasa has no idea what either of them are on about and frankly she has never been this confused. She doesn't recall Armin ever having any secrets but she isn't so sure about Jean.

She remembers the fierce fights between Eren and Jean during their academy days, they were a little hard to forget considering she had to drag him away, but the reason that they seemed to fight had always eluded her. Both parties seemed to take great delight in antagonising each other, maybe it was because Eren knew of Jean's secret?

She couldn't even begin to guess Armin's.

"Well I had better get going. Conny is taking the first shift and I want to see if I can sleep."

"Bye Armin, rest well." She says to him with a small smile on her face.

Armin and Jean nod to each other. With a final wave Armin departs.

"What is that all about?" she asks Jean.

Jean practically implodes. "N-Nothing! Just a, um, joke between Armin and myself." Jean is now crimson from the tips of his ears to the bottom of his neck.

Mikasa knows he is lying. Jokes do not elicit such responses. She wonders if Armin will tell her.

"I'm sorry that I can't tell you." He blurts out. "It's just not all that easy to say."

She looks at him again, the blush is now just on his cheeks and his eyes still burn with determination, but there is something else blazing inside there. Whatever it is, it is setting her off kilter and making her body feel like it is burning too.

It is an entirely new sensation and not all together unpleasant.

This time it is Jean who breaks eye contact. He is digging in one of his side pouches and produces two field ration packets.

"Here." He holds one out to her. "You need to eat this to get your strength up."

It takes a second for this all to sink in, she is still off kilter and her body still feels all weirdly warm. She reaches an arm out and when her fingers brush his, she is hyper aware of the touch. Though his fingers are warm each point of contact causes that point to feel as though it has been burnt by ice and it tingles.

"T-thanks Jean." It is all she can manage to say and she quickly unwraps the ration, eating it quickly so as to distract herself.

She can hear the rustling of his packet as he also starts to eat. They eat in silence.

"You should sleep first." Jean says to her.

"I have already slept." She replies, looking in his general direction but not into those eyes again, she needs her mind to be clear.

"True, but you need it more. I-We all need you at your strongest. I promise that I'll wake you up when it's time."

Mikasa cannot work Jean out. He is neither the brute she thought he was, nor the coward, nor any of the labels anyone ever associated with him, with the exception of Marco.

She lies down with her back to the fire and closes her eyes. She is more exhausted than she realised, even the hard floor doesn't feel so uncomfortable. A few moments later she is asleep.

She is dreaming, she has to be dreaming. Why else would Eren be here? Why else would she be standing in the warm sunshine with the rest of the 104th training squad on what looked to be a day off? She can hear Armin and Eren discussing the huge body of salt water again and she still feels an uneasy twinge at that.

A little to her left she can see Jean chatting to Marco, who says something that makes Jean laugh out loud. It is strange to see him look so at ease.

A little past Eren and Armin she can see Conny pestering Sasha for some of her food, the latter point blank refusing to hand any of it over.

Here, in her dream, the world is still for a brief period.

She closes her eyes, enjoying the warm sunshine and the background chatter from those around her. This is the peace that she dreams of.

Her peace is interrupted by a shadow falling over her. She snaps open her eyes, this is often when her dreams turn into nightmares, when huge titans appear and she can only watch in horror as people are devoured around her. But there is no titan, only Jean.

His eyes are burning again and free from the restrictions of reality she can look into them all she wants. Her body gives the same reaction it did earlier, the burning sensations making her feel weightless and frozen at the same time. It really is an odd sensation.

He holds out his hand to her and she takes it as he helps her to her feet. He doesn't let go of her hand and continues to look into her eyes.

The world around them has stopped.

Lifting his other hand Jean cups her cheek, then slides his hand around the back of her neck and in one swift motion bring his lips down to meet hers.

Her body feels as though it would explode and instinctively she pulls her hand away from his to wrap it around his waist to bring herself closer to him.

Involuntarily she moans with pleasure and this only spurs her on. She is responding to Jean's kiss with passion and her other hand is stroking the soft, short hair on the back of his neck.

"….Mikasa? Are you okay?" A distant voice calls. "…Wake up! Are you having a nightmare?"

She opens her eyes to see a very concerned Jean leaning over her. He is kneeling over her only a half a foot from her face. "You were moaning in your sleep, were you having a nightmare?"

Her dream comes flooding back; she made those noises out loud? She looks up at Jean , her eyes move down to his lips and a small thrill goes through her see that her dream had recreated them perfectly. Her mind is screaming that he is close, too close. She can feel the heat on her own cheeks and wonders if he can see it?

"I'm okay." She manages to gasp out. Jean moves back and she sits up. "Perhaps it is your turn to sleep. I don't think I can sleep any further."

Jean moves back to his spot and begins folding his jacket up into a make shift pillow. He lies down facing her. "Don't hesitate to wake me, if you need anything." She can't tell if he is blushing or if the fire is painting his cheeks.

Then he rolls over and goes to sleep.

She waits five minutes to be sure that he is asleep before running her fingers over lips where there is a phantom tingle.

Mikasa added another log to the fire. She had a feeling that she would need to relive that dream at least once more.

Running her fingers over her lips once more, she smiles.

**Right so let's hope I can do this whole thing justice. To those of you that follow my drabble series, I will update that on Saturday. Chances are with this flu, I'll have plenty of time to write.**

**Happy Wednesday everybody!**

**~Kit**


	2. Chapter 2

**Apologies for this being so late. Flu is a mean mistress… **

**Hope you all enjoy this chapter **

**~Kit**

Waking up Jean is a harder feat than she thought it would be. After close to two hours of being alone with her thoughts about that dream, it felt like she was going to explode.

So she had shuffled closer to Jean with the honest intention of shaking him awake. It had caught her off guard to see his sleeping face. It was devoid of any tension, the gap between his eye brows was not knitted in tension and his whole body seemed to be relaxed. It looked like he was truly at peace when he slept.

_How unlike Eren. _She thought. Eren sprawled over his bed, his arms and legs tangled in his sheets, his head lolled at the side and his mouth wide open.

Jean's mouth is certainly not open. His lips are all pouted and he has nuzzled further into his make shift pillow. Mikasa wonders if he can ever look this relaxed when he is awake and she wonders who it is he lets his guard down for and if it's anyone special. Perhaps this involves the secret that Armin knew? Maybe there is someone special that he could let down his guard for?

She lightly shakes her head, it is not the time for this especially when she knows that there is another reason she is finding it so hard to wake Jean up. It is taking up most of her resolve to ignore it.

She simply can't look into his eyes again. She can't be thrown into a tumult of emotions and she can't dream about Jean's lips on hers and the feel of his hair and the heat of his body. Her face warms again and she has to wait for her heartbeat to calm down.

Her hand hovers over his shoulder and she is chiding herself at how difficult she is finding this. She takes a deep breath and places her hand on his shoulder.

The sensation is instantaneous, it tingles all the way up her arm and causes her stomach to feel as if there are millions of ants crawling around inside.

"Jean? It's time to wake up." He doesn't seem to hear her, so she shakes his shoulder and leans forward.

"Jean, it been nearly two hours. Wake up." Blearily he opens his eyes, a small groan escaping but his eyes soon slip shut again. She shakes him harder and he finally opens his eyes, drowsily looking up at her.

Something must click in his brain as he sees her hand on his shoulder because he scrambles back against the nearest wall. His cheeks flush a slight red at he looks at her.

"Sorry! You caught me off guard, I was expecting you to be so… close." His cheeks glow a brighter red.

Her hand is still tingly and warm from his shoulder. Mikasa doesn't quite know how to deal with all this, it's as though she is using her 3D Manoeuvring gear and she is currently in the free fall stage. She can feel her heart in her throat and the swooping feeling in her stomach and it's as fun as it is terrifying.

"It is not your fault. I am sorry for waking you up so poorly." She rubs her fingertips over her warm palm, enjoying the last of the tingly sensation.

He looks at her. "No, it wasn't you. I was just having an interesting dream. It took me a few seconds to wake up." As he looks at her the blush on his cheeks burns slightly brighter.

Mikasa nods at him. "We should get ready to go. Someone will come for us soon." She turns away quickly, now is not the time to get struck by Jean's eyes.

"Uh, yes." He turns towards his gear and begins checking some of the tubes. Mikasa turns away to hers, making sure that she has all her blades in her slots and the gas is still at full. It is when she is checking the buckles that she hears Jean lightly cursing himself.

She can't quite hear it all but she can hear the occasional "idiot" and "bastard" when he adds emphasis on them.

She turns around to look at him. He is also busy with his buckles but he is being quite rough with his inspection.

Jean must have seen her movement from the corner of his eye, because seconds later he stops mid-jerk on one of the buckles and he looks at her. Mikasa can see that he is trying to gauge just how much she heard. For a few seconds they are locked like that, staring at each other until Jean seems satisfied and drops his gaze.

"Why did you do it Jean?" she asks as she steps into her gear. "Why did you even join the Scouting Legion, not the Military Police like you always said you would?" She leans forward and scoops up her gear, and begins securing everything in place.

She never did fully understand Eren and Jean's fights, they almost always seemed to spring out of nothing and even after she would be dragging Eren away they would still taunt each other until they were out of ear shot. It would often seem that they differed on purpose and as soon as one jibe was said she knew that she would often have to intervene.

She would always sigh when it started and it seemed that no matter where they were, Eren always knew how to start a fight. She can remember Grisha telling her, as they washed the dishes, that Eren struggled to make friends because of his ironclad principles and his head full of dreams. She can still remember the soap bubbles in the last of the sunlight before it sunk behind the wall and the sound of Eren's voice as he recounted the disagreement to his dad that they had with the three boys that lived two streets away. Eren had come home with a black eye after that particular disagreement.

Did Eren know something about Jean that she didn't? Is that why they fought so much? One particularly vicious fight Eren started was towards the end of their training. Jean had been assigned to train with Annie that day and she can clearly remember Eren being told off for not concentrating at all. She can remember Eren was glaring over at Jean again and for the rest of the day had been sullen and distant.

Jean has finished securing his gear when he answers. "I didn't want to die an anonymous death, with no one to know who I was or to claim my body. When I found Marco, he was being placed into an unknown grave, even after all he had done. I don't want to be like that. I don't want to die alone."

His eyes are downcast as he tells her this but she can see his hands are balled up and shaking. He releases one fist and turns the palm up to stare at it as he takes a deep breath and continues.

"I also joined because there is someone I have to protect." He looks up at her again and as soon as his eyes meet with hers, her insides squirm again. "Not that they ever seem to need it and often times they remind me how much they are out of my league."

Jean's voice softens. "But if they ever fall, I want to make sure that I'm always there to protect them."

She is still speechless when he turns away and it feels strangely mechanical when she begins moving to pack away the few things that are there. Silence blankets the space as they finish, they leave the fire, it will burn out soon and it illuminates into the tunnel gloom for a short distance.

He is standing with his back to her, staring into the gloom and he squares his shoulders when she comes to stand next to him.

"You ready?" He asks.

Mikasa nods her head. This time they will rescue Eren, and she will cut Reiner and Bertholdt down for ever having tried to take her brother away from her.

She takes the first step and they walk together in silence down the tunnel, it can't be more than thirty seconds in, when she hears the sound of a piece of wood skating across the floor and a very loud "Shit!" from Jean. What follows next is a loud thump.

"You alright?" Mikasa asks as she squints to see Jean in the gloom where he is sprawled on the floor. Although half of him is obscured she can see that he has sprawled almost face first, in her head she can hear almost hear Eren laughing at Jean.

"Y-yeah, I am fine." Jean straightens back up and rubs the back of his neck. "I guess it's more embarrassing that I even tripped over the thing. I mean, I was the one that dropped it."

Mikasa can't make out whether he is smiling or frowning.

"You know, that Eren would have laughed for ages if he saw you fall." She says to him.

For a moment he stiffens next to her, and then releases a noise that is partly a sigh and partly a bark of laughter.

"I don't think he would ever let me live it down." Jean says. "He would remind me every chance he got."

"Then it shall remain between us." Mikasa promises to him. The thought of embarrassing him now makes her feel uneasy.

"T-thanks." Jean's voice glows with incredulity and he has turned his head to look at her. He starts to say something else when he is interrupted by a calling from down the corridor.

"Ten minutes until departure! All units to report in receive their positions."

Mikasa breaks into a run and she can hear Jean's footfalls right behind her, the square of twilight looming closer with every step. As they draw closer she can hear the hum of commotion outside.

When they emerge from the corridor and into the last rays of twilight, they emerge into a flurry of activity. Jean heads towards the horses and stops Connie to ask him something. Connie gesticulates towards Commander Irvin and Jean glances at the Commander his face set with determination.

The weird feeling she had felt in that passageway has almost completely evaporated. For out here there is the real world, she can hear the call of a warning about an approaching titan, the stomp of nervous hooves upon the stone floor and the dusty smell of a long abandoned stronghold.

Mikasa approaches Commander Irvin for her position assignment. "You are in the front, dead centre. We are using the arrow formation"

She can only nod back at the Commander; her words were ash in her mouth. She goes to check on her horse, double checking the girth strap and the stirrup lengths. She hears the command for the few titans around the fort to be dispatched.

A team fluidly leaps over the wall. A single scream is heard, the sound of a dying man, but only a few people wince. They all knew the risk of joining the Scouting Legion. She spies Jean a little down the way from her, he has looked in the direction of the scream and his hands are balled into white knuckled fists at his side.

The remaining team are over the wall and give the all clear symbol. The entire legion mounts up and begins to file out of the open doors.

Mikasa nudges her horse towards her assigned position. She hears the warning of a group of 3m titans starting to move sluggishly towards them from the forest patch behind them, no deviant class reported.

She arrives at her point. The arrow formation worked better in small groups, it consisted of staggered units with middlemost point having a set target. Units located on the outer sides were there to make sure that middle point got to its intended destination.

Armin rides up next to her, offering her a weak grin and she tries to return it. Hannes appears on her left and nods to the both of them, the fear evident on his face.

Mikasa looks left and sees Connie has been stationed in the fourth unit. Down to the right Jean has been placed in the unit next to hers and he is glaring into the patch of forest where they last saw Eren and Christa disappear.

They all await the last of the sun to slip below the horizon that will launch the signal to move. _We are coming Eren, don't quit fighting._

The last red gold sliver disappears and a single flare is launched and with that they are on the move.

**Well I hope you all enjoyed, I struggled with this chapter but I hope that it doesn't show. To all those lovely reviewers **** you guys really make my day.**

**Anywho, I had some awful flu and then returning to work was like being drowned in an avalanche of things I missed and had to catch up on. **

**Until next time**

**~Kit**


	3. Chapter 3

**Well hello there, welcome to chapter 3!**

**As usual blurb at the bottom **

**~Kit**

As Mikasa's horse leaps forward she is focussed on the space between two trees where she last saw Eren disappear into. The space between the old fort and the trees is roughly sixteen miles and the entire unit is urging their horses forward at the fastest speed that they can manage.

Armin turns to face her, his hair whipping backwards in the wind. Above the thud of the horses' hooves he struggles to make his voice heard.

"We will be there in around half an hour at this speed! Then we can get Eren and Historia back!"

"Yes!" She half shouts back to him. "Then we get them back."

Armin's eyes shine, bright and earnest, with a hope that it will all work out. It had been what the tormenters always had picked on back home; Armin's small frame had only made it easier. No matter how timid and shy he was or how he tried to blend into the background, he could never hide that trait from anyone.

Mikasa knew that it was among reasons that Eren and Armin had become friends; they were both dreamers who dreamt far beyond the walls that they were contained by.

The cluster of trees that they are heading towards looks no closer than before. To the right of the cluster the dying embers of sunset can be seen colouring the clouds in pinks and oranges and the air around them in beginning to cool.

The colours brought back the memory of the first time that Eren and she came home after a fight. Eren had plunged himself in when he had seen the three boys bullying Armin, his arms flailing, as he missed as many shots as he landed.

The biggest of the lot had got a good punch in on Eren's cheek and she can still remember how quickly the red mark had formed. Then she had charged in behind him, her heart hammering in her chest. At first she had been unsure of exactly how to attack and for a few heartbeats she had frozen in the thick of it all.

It was watching all three of them pile up on Eren that had spurred her into action, she started with the smallest one, pulling him back and jabbing him in the nose with all the strength she had. He had cried out in pain and put his hands up to his nose in a futile attempt to staunch the blood that was flowing freely.

The next one had been waiting for her and as she approached pre-empted her with an almighty shove. She had landed roughly on her back, puffs of dust rising wherever her body had hit and a sharp stone digging into her left shoulder. Quick as she could she had hauled herself up and launched herself at him, bringing her knees up to try and hit him in the stomach. He had landed with a thud as she brought him down.

Eren had once again thrown himself back into the fray, his lip now split and his cheek rapidly swelling. The last bully had taken one look at his fallen comrades and stopped in his tracks, his eyes darting between the two of them and her.

Eren had raised his arm in another punch when she caught it.

"Take the wounded and go." She said to Armin's tormentor, her voice dead and flat. "You have ten seconds to get out of this place."

In his hurry to leave she had been shoved into the stone wall next to her, stars had burst into her vision and she had to strain to convince her brain that it was her swaying about like that, not Eren.

Armin had moved to try and stabilise her, but she had sat down instead closing her eyes to lessen the dizzy feeling. She opens her eyes to Eren telling Armin that he must fight to protect himself, but Armin is objecting to this.

She tries to stand, but her legs are like jelly and it takes a considerable feat of will to maintain any sort of control over them.

"Eren, we should go home. It will be dark soon."

"Are you okay Mikasa?" Armin had asked. "You are bleeding from your temple."

They had been in a world of trouble when they got home. Carla had her back to them when they walked in, stirring something on the stove that had smelt fantastic.

"How was the rest of your afternoon?" She had asked as she has turned around. "I hope that Eren didn't get you into any… trouble."

Carla had stopped mid-sentence when she saw them. Eren's cheek having swollen to double its normal size, her with the sticky trail of blood down the side of her face and the both of them filthy.

Grisha had looked at her head wound while Eren was sent for a bath, all the while bickering with his mother about the reason for his fighting.

While Grisha lightly rubbed some salve onto her wound, the kitchen had become painted with the colours on the sunset. It was the first time since her parents that she had felt that at peace.

The whoosh of a flare being released had jolted her from her thoughts. Mikasa shakes her head, trying to shake away the last remnants of the memory.

Another two flares are released to the left that means 3 titans in total. She looks to the left and she can see them. One large enough to be a 10m class and it is making a slow shuffle towards them, it's arms outstretched and its fingers are grabbing the thin air in anticipation. The second is a 3m class, its body almost grotesquely disproportionate, with a small head and limbs, the torso makes up most of the titan's length. It is also making a slow shuffle in their direction, its small arms flailing wildly as it approaches. The titans cannot be further than two and a half miles away.

The last one is also a 3m class. Its limbs are in proportion and it looks to be covered by wiry muscle. It is looking at the group as a whole and it looks as though it is grinning, a wide sharp toothed grin. There is no doubt that it is a Deviant type. It remains stock still as it stares as if trying to gauge the right moment of attack.

Behind her she hears Commander Irvin issue a command and is answered with a "Yes sir!" Two seconds later the last two groups on the left hand side splinter off, heading towards the approaching titans. _Conny is in that group. _ She tries to make him out among the riders, but finds she cannot see him amidst the group.

Looking forward, Mikasa sees how much larger the trees have gotten; they must be around half way there. She urges her horse on, the quicker she reaches the trees, the quicker she rescue Eren back. Finally reunify their family Eren, Armin and she and she will guard the final scraps of family she has with ferocity like no one has ever seen.

The splintered group has reached the three titans. From there they divide into three smaller groups. Two members go for the 3m class, its mouth snapping open and shut as it sees them. One of the members acts as a distraction whilst the other latches on with the 3D Manoeuvring Gear, heading for the back of the neck. The kill is quick and clean and the 3m titan falls.

Three members go after the 10m class. Two members latch themselves on trying to angle themselves to a position to attack the neck, the third drops back behind the titan waiting for an opening to strike. The 10m class is quicker than any of them anticipated and manages to grab one by the leg. They manage to cut themselves free by slicing the fingers the legion member tries to get back on their horse, their leg hanging limply in the air. The titan lunges for him and taking the gap, the second legion member executes the cut. The titan plummets and the wounded legion unit, who cannot safely disengage, plummets to the ground. It is horrific to watch but she finds she cannot tear her eyes away. It is a fate that no one can ever desire.

It is now that the Deviant class moves, speedier than expected, to grab the fallen legion soldier. He crouches down as he holds him and squeezes his grip, his eerie grin widening as the soldier squirms in pain. The remaining units are converging on the Deviant titan, having adjusted their attack paths from before. The first two that reach him are slammed into the ground where they remain unmoving, pools of red spreading around them. The persisting units begin circling the Deviant, trying to think of a plan to dispatch the titan.

The titan lifts the soldier feet first towards its mouth, lowering it to bring the lower half of the soldier's feet into its mouth. The soldier is thrashing about, his broken leg swinging uselessly. The titan bites down, its ragged teeth tearing easily through flesh and bone.

"There is no point watching Mikasa. There is nothing we can do; we just have to make the sacrifice worth it." Armin has drawn his horse up next to hers. "They have bought us the time we needed, we are nearly there."

The cluster of trees in smaller than it looked in the distance, it is rather a few very large trees whose wide green canopies bolstered the illusion. It looks as though there are at most twenty trees.

The gloom of night is approaching and it makes the shadows between the trees seem like inky black holes. Mikasa tenses, this would be the ideal place for an ambush and it appears that Commander Irvin agrees because he issues an order to be passed down through the remaining formation, not that any of them really need to be made aware of the danger. "Everyone be on the lookout. Have your flares at the ready."

She swears it could not have been more than half a minute later that two flares go off. Two 10m class emerge from the right side of the trees.

"Last two right hand units take out those titans! Remaining units head towards the targets as fast as you can! Move!" Commander Irvin yells behind her.

The two units break off heading towards the titans. Mikasa urges her horse into a gallop and plunges into the trees. She keeps herself on alert, looking in between the trees for any sign of further titans or Eren.

When she looks left she sees that Jean has moved to the leftmost position in his unit so that he is almost next to her. His eyes are scanning the trees and his mouth is set into a determined slash.

She hears Armin cry out and point to a tree directly ahead of them. Then she sees them, they are on a sturdy branch around seventy five feet off of the ground, they cannot be more than a hundred feet away.

Ymir is still in titan form and she is holding Historia in one hand. Historia does not look to be in any pain or even scared; instead she is looking at Ymir's titan and pleading with it.

Bertholdt is looking at them; his face looks haggard with dark circles under his eyes. Reiner looks no better. As Bertholdt looks at her she can see a small flicker of fear and he speaks to Reiner, who pales but nods his head.

But Mikasa has no mind for this, because she has finally seen him. His limbs have regenerated and he is awake. His back against the tree and still fully bound. _Eren._

**Well I'll confess, when I mapped out this chapter it actually had a lot more to it. It also was ridiculously long so I split it and this was the first bit. Not filled with the caramel centre of the next chapter (I think it's going to be great, but that could be me) but it all needed to be written.**

**Secondly, just a note to IMIoogle, who always gives me the best concrit, if there are any improvements in my quality of writing I owe credit to you **

**Thirdly, this is the first action-y thing that I have ever done and I have mixed feelings about it. But that is the reason for practise I suppose. **

**If you leave a review, many thanks! If you don't thanks for reading! **

**~ Kit**


	4. Chapter 4

**And I finally finished this chapter **** Took me some time, I can tell you this much. **

**I hope you guys enjoy, sorry its so damn long!**

**~Kit**

As soon as Mikasa had clapped eyes on Eren was he then swiftly yanked away by Reiner. As Eren was held up she could see that there remained only a few wisps of steam rising from his now regenerated limbs, but they have been firmly bound together.

Mikasa feels a stab of joy, he is still fighting and there is no other reason for them to bind him so tightly. She readies herself to launch off of the horse, her one hand holding the reins while the other moves to clasp the handgrip, her hand grasping the trigger preparing to propel the grapple hooks.

Bertholdt says something to the group as Reiner straps him onto his back. With a look of alarm Historia looks towards them, her eyes darting to the friends that had come to help.

"They are going to run!" Armin cries out. "Quickly, let's go!"

Mikasa urges her horse forward, they cannot be more than fifty feet away and the distance is closing fast. Eren has seen the approaching group and has begun fighting again. His arms straining at the binding around them and he is trying to kick his legs free. Bertholdt is swaying with the motion of Eren's kicks and pulls; he turns to yell something at Reiner.

Reiner squares his jaw and raises his hand to his mouth.

"He's turning! We are too late!" Someone cries off to her left.

"Keep up the attack! Nobody dare slow down! You all have your orders!" Commander Irvin voice replies. "We cut down those that stand in our way!"

There is an explosion of steam and the vague shape of the armoured titan can be seen. Ymir leaps from the branch and attaches herself to its shoulder. Bertholdt takes one, fearful look back at them and fires a hook into the other shoulder and swings down as soon as he is attached Reiner begins to run.

"The armoured titan is slow; we can catch him as soon as we are free of these trees!" Armin shouts against the wind. "Mikasa I think we can still use the weak points that we used before. Cut the back of his knees so that he falls!"

"Good plan Armin." She responds as she restores her hand back to the reins. Mikasa leans forward in the saddle trying to go as fast as possible. She wants to finish what she started when she failed to kill Reiner and Bertholdt, she wants her revenge, but most of all she wants her brother back.

The edge of the trees is approaching and she can see Reiner as he moves with a lumbering run. She can see no other movement in the line to the left and right of them. The edge of the trees is nearly upon her.

All at once Mikasa bursts out of the trees and her eyes are firmly sighted upon Reiner who is now 500 feet in front of them. Her focus is singularly on getting to them and she can still see Eren fighting at his bonds his eyes not leaving the group of them. Bertholdt looks as though he is taking strain, his mouth is twisting in the effort to hold on and keep Eren in check.

Without warning there is a shrill scream to her right. One of the squadron has been lifted off of her horse and is held by a 10m titan, a gentle smile of its face as it studies the victim it has in its grip. Behind it another 10m class is approaching at a slow run, it too has a pacified smile on its face and it does not stop to pick up a victim but instead leans in to charge through the formation.

The formation scatters as the titan picks up its pace as it charges down the line. _Two Deviant class titans? Are they hunting together? _She whips her head around as she urges her horse out of the way, to the titan that had grabbed the soldier off of her horse. The soldier is now limp in its hand, and it is shaking it to see if it still lives. When the soldier fails to move, the titan casts her away and looks for another, the soldier's body lands with a hard thump, her limbs bending at impossible angles. _No, just a pair of Deviants, it's weird that they are grouping together like this._

Quicker than she had thought possible, the titan has grabbed another one and Mikasa can hear his plaintive cries as he squirms in the titans grip. The second titan has now turned around and is preparing to charge once again. Before it charges it takes the time to apprise each of them and Mikasa shudders as its eyes pass over her. Looking around she notices that Armin is no longer next to her; in fact she cannot remember where he went after the first charge. _In the confusion we must have been separated, Armin where are you? _She looks again towards Reiner's retreating form; he must now be almost a mile away. _We are going to lose them! _Releasing a strange cry the second titan charges again, aiming to plough through the largest cluster of soldiers and Mikasa has to gallop out of the way. When it reaches the still titan it stops behind it to look back at them, that placid smile still on its face.

Abruptly a red flare is released, it is the commanders flare and for a few, precious seconds all attention is on him.

"To those of you that can escape the next titan run, go! Those of us who remain will finish these titans off and then join you. My men are to stay and fight." Commander Irvin's voice is strong as it carries to all of them.

There are several cries of "Yes sir!" from the commander's men and they quickly group into a formation around him. Mikasa looks again at Reiner, he has slowed down but has still made some distance from them, and she can no longer make out Eren at all. She hears the thud of horse's hooves and turns her head to see Armin approaching her, his eyes are fixated on Reiner.

"You ready to go after them?" He asks.

"I was ready when we left the wall." Mikasa replies.

The charging titan cries again runs at the group again. Mikasa urges her horse forward after Reiner and the group. There is a scream as the charging titan finally manages to crush a soldier and his horse underfoot. Looking back, she can see that Commander Irvin and his men have gone after the seated titan and the charging titan has turned around to see where to charge next.

There is only one horse that is following the two of them and it is with a hard thud of her heart when she realises it is Jean. His face is stern and his shoulders are rigidly squared, but when there is another scream from a dying man behind him, he flinches.

Reiner is now over a mile in front of them and half cloaked in the approaching gloom. It seems as though he is making for the next cluster of trees around a mile in front of him. It is the final cluster in the area and the next line of trees is easily ten miles away.

"This is our chance Armin! Let's move."

This time is it Armin who nods his head and digs his heels into his horse's sides. Mikasa quickly follows and they launch into a gallop. It does not take them long to start gaining ground. In five minutes they have made up a half mile and Reiner is moving ever slower as he approaches the trees. _They are exhausted. With no food for two days, having to manage Eren and evade us must have taken its toll. How long can you keep this up Reiner? _

They are now close enough to see Eren again and Mikasa can see that he is still fighting. He is kicking his legs in time with Reiner's steps so that each step jars Bertholdt's weakening hold. Ymir is silently staring over at them, her coal black eyes blank while she ignores Historia attempts to talk to her.

They are now only a quarter mile away from Reiner and the others. Bertholdt eyes are wide with panic as he looks at them as they approach and he climbs painfully slow to Reiner's shoulder and after looking forward proceeds to yell something in the titan's ear. Mikasa feels a small stab of satisfaction at Bertholdt's panic. _You should be afraid, I'm going to end you and Reiner and there is little you can do to stop me. _

Only a quarter mile remains between them. The last colours of dusk are being washed away by the rising full moon, its bright light bleaching the colour out of everything. Even Mikasa's red scarf is being painted silver by the light. She glances back; Jean is a small distance behind them, his white horse practically glowing in the moonlight.

It seems that Reiner can take no more and has almost completely slowed down as he approaches the trees. Bertholdt is looking back at them, his body rigid and his mouth is clamped tight. Ymir has now focused on Historia and is glaring at her as Historia pleads with her. Eren is now shaking his head as he glares at them, straining against his bonds harder than before.

The message that Eren is trying to signal is lost on her. She has come too far to err on the side of caution. Reiner has come to a complete stop and remains with his back towards them. Mikasa prepares to launch, she plans to cut Eren loose while ramming her other blade through Bertholdt's heart.

She holds a finger over the button as they close on the last three hundred feet. She raises herself up off the saddle, fires and jumps.

It is as she jumps that she realises what Eren had been trying to signal. Bertholdt had been trying to trick them. As soon as she had raised herself up, Bertholdt had yelled and Reiner had moved out of the way, with a speed that Mikasa had not expected.

Her grapple had missed completely and she had fallen heavily, landing with a metallic crunch as her Manoeuvring Gear absorbed some of the impact. Reiner had started to move again albeit painfully slow; Bertholdt had climbed again to his ear and speaking into it. Eren was looking at her with a mixture of anger and concern, a look he always gave her whenever she did something he considered to be idiotic.

"Mikasa! Are you okay?" Armin asks as he draws his horse to a halt next to her.

Mikasa pauses while she waits for any pain to hit. There is no pain or unusual numbness as she slowly stands up, her gear must have taken most of the impact.

"I am fine." She says as she looks at Armin, who she notices has her horse's reins in his other hand. "Please go follow them; I will follow as soon as I have rewound my cable."

Armin hesitates. "Go Armin! We can't let them escape!"

Armin dips his head in agreement and he hands her reins back, before urging his horses after Reiner's retreating back. Looping them over her shoulder she presses the button to wind back the stretch of cable lying stretched out on the ground in front of her. Her gear lets out a whine as a vent of gas is released; the metal cord however is not zipping in. Pressing the button, she tries again with the same result. It appears as though the cable has jammed.

It's as she hears an unnatural rustle that she finally clicks to the final part of Bertholdt's plan. Ahead of her, perhaps sixty five feet away is a 5m titan. It is staring at her with cold, dead eyes which slightly protrude from its squashed face. Its body is in an inverted triangle with cane-like arms and tree trunk legs. Making the smallest movements she can, she begins to jerk on the stuck cable. The titan takes a step forward towards her.

Her horse begins to paw the ground nervously. The titan takes another step towards her as its mouth opens to reveal stubby, yellow teeth. Its mouth snaps shut and she can hear the clicking of its teeth. It moves closer.

Mikasa jerks harder and presses the button, the gears screech but the cable draws infinitesimally in. The titan is fifty feet away and its pace is increasing as it draws closer. She tries to formulate a plan, she knows she can't launch the other grapple while this cable in undone, for if the titan steps on the loose cable she will be trapped.

She draws her blades in preparation, the moonlight glinting off of the sharp edges. The titan does not pause when he sees the blades. She takes a deep breath; this will take all of her skill to defeat this titan without her gear.

She is distracted by the heavy thud of galloping hooves and a white blur passing in front of her. A shape leaps off of the horse and lands in front of her, after blinking she can see its Jean. He stands with his back to her, his blades at attention, ready to face the approaching titan.

"Mikasa put your blades away and fix your gear. You have to go get Eren." His voice is low as he steps in front of her to block the titan's view of her.

She hesitates. "But what about you? You can't stay here and fight this titan alone." Mikasa is surprised about the amount of concern in her voice.

"I'll be fine. Please fix your gear." He turns his head to glance at her. The determination is there in his eyes and they are glowing in the moonlight. Mikasa struggles to breathe.

As soon as he has turned back around she chides herself for feeling such weakness, especially now. Now is not the time for feelings, or such things, she must focus. She sheathes her blades and unclips them, looking at the stuck cable. The cable has jammed up and a few sharp tugs later the cable is free and she is quickly winding it up.

The titan slowed its approach when Jean arrived and had begun skirting around the two of them. She places one foot in the stirrup before turning back to Jean.

"Jean are you sure that you will be fine? I-" He interrupts her.

"Mikasa go!"

"But I-"

"If you do not go, I cannot keep my promise to you. I cannot help you bring back Eren. This is me fulfilling the promises I made. I will rejoin you. Now please, go!"

Dumbstruck, she lifts herself into her saddle and urges her horse into a gallop. Reiner is a mile away and Armin is close behind. She glances behind her; Jean has launched an attack, he has grappled onto the titans shoulder and swung around, blades at the ready.

She urges her horse on further, she will have to have faith in him, however much that contradicts her core beliefs.

Reiner has slowed down almost completely, his shoulders are sagging and he is leaning forward as if to catch his breath. _They must be more exhausted than I thought; he must not be able to hold his form for much longer. Bertholdt looks weaker too; he must be exhausted from Eren's resistance. _In ten minutes Mikasa is only a hundred yards away when Reiner collapses onto one knee a low groan erupting from him with titan steam billowing from his body.

With a slump Reiner's titan form collapses forward, Eren and Bertholdt are tossed forward and separate as they both come tumbling to a stop. Ymir leaps off landing safely with Historia still held fast in her grip. Armin aims straight for Eren, slipping off of his horse and cutting Eren's bonds. Mikasa arrives just as Eren stands up and she throws herself full tilt at him. Wrapping her brother in a large hug, relief coursing through her as she finally has him back. For his part Eren half hugs her back.

Eren is distracted when he hears Bertholdt speak, trying to pick up Reiner from the smouldering remains of his titan. He has slung Reiner's arm over his shoulder and is gingerly trying to navigate his way down. Reiner is pale and drawn and is placing most of his weight on Bertholdt as they reach the ground.

Eren yells in fury as he rushes towards the pair and with a bone cracking thump, tackles Bertholdt to the ground. Reiner goes down onto one knee and drawing her blades, Mikasa moves to stand in front of him. She stands with her blades aimed at his throat and he looks up at her with a looks that is half fear and half pure hatred.

"Make so much as one move and I will finish what I started at the wall. And this time I'll make sure that your last few minutes are as painful as I can possibly make them." Mikasa allows her anger to seep into every word.

Armin has made his way to Ymir and Historia. "Please put her down Ymir, everything is okay. We can all go home."

Ymir makes no motion to put Christa down and if anything, cradles her closer to her chest. Armin looks confused but he moves closer to look at Historia.

"I'm glad you're okay." He says, looking at her with a tentative smile on his face.

"I'm glad you're okay too." She replies, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

Ymir seems confused by the exchange and backs away, her teeth slightly bared as she looks at Armin.

"Put me down please Ymir."

The titan shakes her head. Historia crosses her arms and looks sternly at Ymir.

"Put me down. I already gave you my word."

With all her pointed teeth bared, Ymir lowers her to the ground. Her eyes do not leave Historia as she walks to Armin. The moonlight makes their blonde hair shine silver and creates a halo of white light around the crowns of their heads.

"Armin, I wanted to tell you that no matter what happens, I will be going where Ymir goes."

Armin's smile falters. "Why? Why won't you come with us? You can bring Ymir too."

"I go with Ymir because she is my friend and because she asks this of me. Would you not do the same for Eren or Mikasa?"

For a second Armin looks defeated and hopeless. "But will I ever see you again if you leave?"

"I believe that we will. I have to believe it." She replies as she brushes his arm lightly with her fingertips, before turning back to go to Ymir.

There is a yelp from Bertholdt behind Mikasa and she figured that Eren must have pinned him in a particularly painful hold. Bertholdt says something to Eren in a low voice and she can't quite make out what he said. Whatever Bertholdt said, pushes Eren over the edge. He lets out a snarl and she can hear the thump of a punch and a grunt from Bertholdt.

She moves around to behind Reiner, her blades still trained on his throat. She must now watch Bertholdt; any signal of a plan would come from him.

Eren is attacking Bertholdt with a savage fury, each strike intending to do as much damage as possible and Bertholdt is only managing to block half of the blows.

"How do I wake up Annie?" There is a thud where Eren makes contact with Bertholdt's side.

"Don't threaten me with the knowledge and then say nothing!" Bertholdt just moves out of the way of another blow. Just.

"How do I get her out of the crystal?" He blocks one of Eren's kicks but the force is enough to send him staggering back.

"I need her to wake up! Tell me how to do it!" Eren roars as he launches at Bertholdt and secures him in an arm lock.

"I told you that I would tell you if you came with us willingly." Bertholdt's voice is strained as Eren pulls the arm lock tighter.

"Never." Eren switches the lock and this time the gasp of pain is audible from Bertholdt.

Mikasa can make out the sound of an approaching horse and she is praying it is Jean. There is a small tingle of elation in her as she sees it is him as he halts parallel to her and dismounts. As he looks her way she can see that there is a trail of blood down the right side of his face, but his face betrays no indication if he is in any pain. He walks closer to Eren.

"Eren, you have release the lock. Commander Irvin and the others are on their way, we have to secure the prisoners."

Bertholdt looks at Reiner with a look of horror in his eyes and raising his free hand, holds out two fingers. Almost instantly there is a yelp from Historia and an angry cry from Armin. _I knew it! I knew that Bertholdt would have made another plan. _Mikasa raises her blades to strike at Reiner, but Ymir can move quicker than they all thought possible and she has to block a swipe from the titan as Ymir scoops up Reiner. Eren has not noticed Bertholdt signal and is still using the arm lock. Ymir has left Reiner on her shoulder to clutch on her hair, which leaves her one hand free to claw at Eren.

In that instant time slows down, but Mikasa is too far away to make any move to save him. Jean springs at Eren, shouldering him out of the way as Ymir's talons swipe the air where he just was. Bertholdt uses the gap to grapple onto Ymir and with that they make their escape. Although weighed down, Ymir still moves incredibly fast. She can hear the thundering of approaching hooves but there is no way she, or any of the Commander's men can catch them.

**And that's that. I struggled with this for two weeks, the black pit where I keep my insecurities let a few of them out and I had to stuff them all back in.**

**A note because I am not sure if it applies anywhere else, but the full moon here is South Africa is ridiculously bright, like I can read outside in a full moon bright. So I used that moonlight for here… you know, in case anyone was wondering…**

**Anywho, this is my shortest AN ever. But if you feel like letting me know how this chapter was that is awesome of you, if not then thanks for reading :D**

**~Kit**

**P.S. I kinda ship HistoriaxArmin, because they would be the most adorably awkward couple ever. I mean, can you picture them on a date? Armin would be all shy and chivalrous and Historia would be all lady like and sweet, well I think it would be adorable… and okay this is a long AN now…**


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